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Cherkez (Tserkezoi in Greek) is a village situated on the Akroteri peninsula in the Limassol district. It is located seven kilometers southwest of the city of Limassol and two kilometers northeast of the village of Asomatos/Gözügüzel. Cherkez means “Circassian” in Turkish, a name that derives from a farm used in 1864 for the settlement of some Circassian refugees. After the settlement of these refugees who were fleeing from Russian aggression, the village began to be called Çerkez Çiftliği. Soon after their settlement, many of these Circassians suffered from malaria and either died or moved elsewhere. 

 

 

As can be seen in the above chart, Cherkez was predominantly inhabited by Muslims until 1901. The Muslim population of the village declined drastically after 1911. Throughout the British period the population of the village fluctuated. The first census of the Republic of Cyprus in 1960 put the village’s population at 56. Turkish Cypriots constituted only 23% of the population.

Displacement:

No one was displaced from the village during the 1950s emergency years. Due to the intercommunal fighting of 1963-64, all the Turkish Cypriots left the village in January 1964 and sought refuge in Polemidia(277) village. They stayed there until 1974. The second conflict-related displacement of the Cherkez Turkish Cypriots took place in July 1974, when they all sought refuge in the Akrotiri British Sovereign Base Areas. They remained there until January 1975, when they were transferred via Turkey to the northern side of the divide. The total number of displaced Turkish Cypriots from Cherkez can be estimated to be 15-20 persons (13 in the 1960 census).

Current Inhabitants:

Currently the village is inhabited by its original Greek Cypriot inhabitants. The last Cypriot census of 2001 put the village’s population at 58.  

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Websites:

• http://www.cyprus-village.com/ (for the villages)
• http://news.karpasha.com/
• http://human-rights-archaeology.blogspot.com/
• http://kypros.org/Occupied_Cyprus/ (for the villages in the north)